Out Of Fire & Ash
by the Last Flowerchild
Summary: After an  Apocalypse destroys most of the Earth and its people, the only ones left to carry on are Nathan, Toki, and Pickles. Will the three be able to stay together and overcome the last days of the Earth? Pickles/Toki slash.
1. The Awakening

****WARNINGS****

**Slash, death, violence, drug/alcohol usage.**

****DISCLAIMER****

**Nope, don't own any characters, just the plot.**

****PLEASE NOTE****

**This story is mean to take place after an attack on the Mordhaus  
****by the government, who, as well know from the show, hates _Dethklok.  
_****This one attack spawned millions of others, and soon the world was in shambles.  
****Keep in mind that because of this there is no running water, electricity, or any  
****modern conveniences.**

_**Reviews are love.**_

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_When did the voices  
__become  
__so diseased and angry  
__and whose strength do they use  
__to carry us to such unfamiliar places_

_They can pull triggers  
__they can throw us off rooftops  
__they can split us into uneven halves  
__whose strength do they use_

_~~Madness And A Bit Of Hope, by Safiya Henderson-Holmes_

_**CHAPTER 1: END OF THE DREAM**_

It began with a mass of fire and ash. They were violent, merciless assassins that had come in the dead of night to take away everything, and that's just what they had done. Nobody had been ready, nobody had been able to withstand their hatred, and so the Mordhaus fell to the madness of murder. The rest of the world followed, and each country sank down and died slowly and painfully, killed each other off in an insane display of nuclear bombs and bullets. Cities—Rome, London, Tokyo, Washington and all the rest—were reduced to nothing and the world was left to disappear under a blood-red sky. Everyone suffered, but somehow there were a few survivors. Toki was one of them.

Together he and Nathan had managed to pull back what little remained of their old rich lives and salvage their sanity—or what was left of it. Day was nothing but a long, miserable Hell, seeming to last ten lifetimes of misery. The night was terrifying—a gunshot in the dark or a cruel trick of the mind?-but somehow they managed to keep one another alive. Now they sat in what remained of the old living room of the Mordhaus, staring at a dead-asleep Pickles. "Ams he going to wake up today?" Toki asked, a deep frown on his face. "You said he was just sleepings; how long can he sleeps for?"

Nathan turned way from the hopeful Norwegian and said, "I already told you that he might not wake up."

"Oh." he looked down, a discouraged look on his face. "Whys not?"

He let out a slightly annoyed sigh; of course he ended up explaining this to the guitarist every day, but still he took Pickles' hand, sang to him, prayed in Norwegian, and told him stories, hoping that he would wake up again and be the same. The only problem with this was that _nothing _was the same. "He's in a coma."

"Whys?"

"You know damn well why. I've explained it to you a hundred times."

Toki's pale eyes filled with tears as he stared at Pickles' ashen, emotionless face. Where had the life in him gone? "I miss hims."

"I know."

"And I miss Skwisgaar, Murderface, and Ofdensens..."

Nathan nodded. "I know, I do too."

The Norwegian laid his head next to the drummer's and closed his eyes. He remembered the night so many weeks ago when the Mordhaus had been attacked. They had all been sleeping. He had been hugging his deddy bear to him when Skwisgaar had burst into his room and cried, "Tokis, gets up quick!"

"Whys?"

"There ammnest peoples with guns shootings everything up!"

He couldn't move, couldn't think. Instead he just asked in a hoarse, fearful voice, "Whats?"

Skwisgaar lead him over to his bedroom window and let him look outside at the devastation; hundreds of Klokateers were shooting and getting shot. Toki's face paled as he was lead out of the room by the Swede...somehow thru it all they'd been separated and Pickles had been shot and now...Toki didn't know. He stood, hovering over the bed where Pickles rested. "I wish he would wakes up, I really dos."

Nathan reached for his hand, but then drew back. "I...maybe we should just leave him alone for a little whi-"

"Leaves him?" The guitarist shook his head and knelt next to where the drummer lay. "Nevers. We should never leaves each other agains, Nathans." he paused before inquiring, "What if he doesn't wakes up again?"

The singer shrugged and answered, "Just...Toki, he's been asleep for a while, and all you do is talk to him and-"

"Because it helps him!"

"No it doesn't!" he said. "It just makes everything harder!"

He shrank back, took the drummer's hand, and watched him breathe. _In and out, in and out. _A steady heartbeat, no signs of death, only an eternal sleep. Toki bit his lower lip in thought and finally said, "But he looks stills alive."

"He's not." Nathan carefully placed a hand on the guitarist's shoulder. "He might not come back."

"But he ams right here!" Toki said, tears rolling down his face in slow and steady streams. "How can he 'comes back' when he ams stills here?" and he let out a sob and hissed, his voice so full of frustration, "It doesn't makes any sense!"

"Toki, he's-"

"And why can't yous just admit that you cares abouts him?" the Norwegian continued, his breath coming out in short, rasping gasps from his constant crying. "Why ams you still so worried abouts being brutal? We're all each other has and you act like you don'ts care!"

Nathan looked down and murmured, "I_ do _care."

"Then why don't you ever shows it?"

"I...I..." he didn't know what to say, so he just walked towards the door and said in his deep voice, "Keep him company." and left, just like that.

Once he had gone, Toki turned his attention back to Pickles and squeezed his hand. "Nathan doesn't knows _anything. _You ams going to wakes up; I knows you will, because-" his voice broke as he whispered in the drummer's ear, "-because you can'ts leave me, nots now. I _needs _you, Pickle. Please comes back, please. Don't gives up, please wakes up."

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Burning, coked by smoke and blinded by ash and corpses. The dead littered the ground as he lead Toki and Skwisgaar out of the burning Mordhaus. He was holding Toki's left hand and the Swede was clutching his right, both of them desperately trying to keep the weeping, coughing Norwegian close. "Skwisgaar!" Pickles shouted above the maddening sounds of the fights and fire around them. "We can't stay together no more! They'll catch us!"

"What dos we do?" he asked, hugging Toki to him protectively.

"We gatta let Toki go aff on his own."

"Buts-"

"He'll have more of a chance." he insisted. Skwisgaar wiped some soot from his forehead and patted the other guitarist's shoulder in an effort to get his attention.

"Tokis, listens to me—you haves to run nows, okay? Runs as far as you can and don't look back, alright?"

He shook his head, his pale eyes wide and shining in the firelight that the smoldering house gave off. "N-Nos, I can't leaves you."

"It ain't safe no more, dude!" Pickles told him. "It's better for you t'just run ahead without us."

"I cant's!"

"Toki, you haves to. Please," Skwisgaar said, hugging the Norwegian one last time. "dos it for me?"

He glanced from one man to the other and finally nodded. "Fines. I-"

"Go!" Pickles urged, pushing the guitarist away. Toki turned and made a mad dash for the forest that surrounded the Mordhaus, but before he could reach the safety of the treeline, a loud shot rang out. Although gunfire was filling the night air all around them, this shot somehow stood out above the rest. It echoed, was loud and ear-piercing. For one fearful moment Pickles thought that Toki had been shot until he felt something warm and sticky hit his cheek. When he looked over, he saw that Skwisgaar was laying on the ground, a pained and astonished look on his pale face. "P-Pickle..." he blinked and a little blood ran from between his lips. "I thinks I gots shot..."

The drummer wiped the other man's blood from his own cheek then knelt down next to the Swede. He shook his head in denial; this was impossible, a dream. This couldn't be real. What had happened to their old, carefree life? Just yesterday hadn't they been down in the studio, laughing and making fun of each other in between recording songs? "Dude, you're-"

Skwisgaar fully understood the reality of the situation, because in a moment he was holding Pickles' hand, whispering in Swedish, and crying. "I don't wants to die," he whimpered. "Why ammnest this happenings?"

The drummer couldn't answer this, but he knew that he had to, so he responded with, "I...I don't know, dude..."

The Swede closed his eyes and breathed raggedly, "It wasn't supposed to bes this ways...we were all supposed to makes it and be okays..."

"We all _are _gonna-"

"Pickle?"

"Yeah?"

"Toki—takes care of him. Dos that for me, okays?"

He nodded and squeezed Skwisgaar's hand a little tighter. "Of course I will, dude. You know I love that kid."

"He ammnest like my brother."

"I know."

And the Swede smiled, his lips and teeth dyed red with his own blood. "I loves him...makes sure he ams okays. He won't understand..."

"He'll be fine; everything will be-" behind him there was the sound more gunfire and screaming. "-alright."

"H-Hows?" Skwisgaar wondered, casting his dying, deep blue gaze up at at the starry, red night sky above them. A bloody smile came across his face—he closed his eyes and whispered in an oddly peaceful way, "Hows did this happens?"

And the scene melted away as the Swede's body became limp, lifeless, and cold. There was a new voice now, one that was wretched with its whispered pleas of desperation. "Pickle? You haves to wakes up, you haves to! Please, please wakes up now."

_Move, move!_

He couldn't feel any part of himself, but the sound of that voice almost brought him back, if only for a moment. Toki? Yes, it was him, and Pickles remembered that night again, how he had heard another shot and felt the ripping pain of a searing hot bullet...he remembered the way it had felt to lose his blood, to watch the precious, life-giving liquid freely flowing out of him...had he died? No, but he wasn't alive, so where was he? Teetering on the edge of some unknown place between life and death?

_Move, move!_

"Hmm..."

Words were good too, he supposed, but he so longed to move, to rip himself out of this zombie-state of being. Then it came—he opened his eyes for a split second. _Yes, _he thought, _I'm okay! I'm alive, I'm-_

Dead again. Still he couldn't move and once again he was asleep. Toki saw this feeble display of life, though, because in a moment he was sobbing and kissing Pickles' cheek, saying prayers in his native tongue. _"Han er i live! Gud, vennligst gjør ham våkne opp nå!" _Then in English, "Pickle, I saws it, I know you ams alive! Please wakes up now!"

_I can't..._

"Please?"

_God, I wish I could!_

It was amazing, but in that split fraction of a second that his eyes had been open, Pickles had seen Toki's face; there was a small, half-healed cut along his cheek now, but other than that he was just as alive and childlike as ever. _The dream, it really happened? But that means that they're dead, everyone's dead...and I promised Skwisgaar that I'd keep Toki safe...they're all gone...and nothing is the same. _

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"Hey, I brought you something to eat." Nathan announced as he entered the room. Toki glanced over at him and arched a brow.

"What ams it?"

"Canned stuff." he answered, throwing him a can. The label had been ripped off, but the guitarist didn't care; he ripped the can open and devoured its contents quickly.

"That ams all we haves left?"

"It's all we can afford to eat right now." he said, taking a seat next to Toki. The Norwegian was sitting cross-legged next to the still sleeping drummer. Nathan stared down into Pickles' face and murmured sadly, "Toki, I've been thinking..."

"Nos." he said immediately.

"No what? I didn't even tell you yet."

"We ams not going to leaves him alone to die."

Nathan shook his head and insisted, "You just don't get it, do you? He's-"

"I saw hims open his eyes today!"

"It was your imagination." he turned away and added warily, "You've been spending too much time crying over him. It's time to move on."

"I ams never going to forget abouts him." Toki stated, glaring at the singer hatefully. "I ams nots like you—I care abouts people!"

"I care!"

"Likes hell you do!"

He sighed in defeat and wrapped an arm around Toki's waist. He pulled him closer, into an awkward hug. "I care about you and I can't watch you waste any more tears over him; I'll lock you out of this room if I have to, I don't care."

"I hates you!" he cried, trying to end the hug. "I hates you, I-"

"Ugh..."

Both men let their expressions of anger wash away from their faces and turned their attention to Pickles. He was moving now, flexing and unflexing his fingers. As soon as Toki saw this, he let out a joyful cry and went over to him. "Wakes up, Pickle, please! Proves Nathan wrong, ple-"

"T-Toki?" Pickles muttered weakly. The Norwegian fell into his arms and began to laugh.

"Look, Nathans, he ams awake!"

"Y-Yeah." he said, a shocked look on his face.

"I was right, I knews it." and he hugged the drummer tighter and began to weep.

Pickles just tried to adjust his eyes to the new, painful light. He felt Toki's crushing weight against him and loved it. Finally he was home again. Slowly he summoned up what little strength he had in him, loosely put an arm around the guitarist, and pulled him closer. "Hey, dude. You missed me?" he could only nod. Pickles let a grin come across his face as he whispered in Toki's ear, "I missed you so damn much." then he cast his glance over to Nathan. "Doin' good?"

"Could be better."

The drummer let out a weak laugh and nodded. "Yeah, me too." his green eyes looked around the old living room, observed the destruction and the state of disrepair that the room was in, and the smile gradually faded from his face. "I guess we could all be doin' better."

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****A/N****

**The way I look at it, I could either get fairly good reviews on this story, or horrible ones—probably horrible ones considering the subject matter. Oh well. I've already typed up 5 chapters [this story's going to be an flowerchild-standard 6 parter] so yeah...hope you like it and enjoyed this chapter, cause there's more to come. Yes, in case you really, really can't believe it, Skwisgaar and Ofdensen are both dead; currently Murderface isn't confirmed to be _dead, _only missing...but still maybe dead. Ah, the suspense and plot twists to come! :P**

**Peace & Love**


	2. New World

-_-Moment of inner freedom  
when the mind is opened & the  
infinite universe is revealed  
& the soul is left to wander  
dazed & confus'd searching  
here & there for teachers & friends._

_~~The Opening Of The Trunk~~_

_I tell you this;  
no eternal reward will  
forgive us now for  
wasting the dawn_

_~~I Want To Tell You~~  
__~~Poet: Jim Morrison~~_Book: Wilderness~~

_**CHAPTER 2: NEW WORLD**_

Toki watched Pickles eat and told him about everything that had taken place while he'd been in his coma. "We just sort of all sleeps in the same room and do nothings all day—it ams really nice, like a vacations or somethings."

Pickles arched a brow. "What about your guitar? Don't you play it no more?"

He shook his head. "Nos electricals to plugs it intos. I lost it anyways, so it doesn't matters."

"Oh." he looked down at the can of food he'd been eating out of. Nathan saw this and frowned.

"We've got enough food." and his eyes flickered over to Toki as he repeated with a peculiar emphasis, "Enough."

The drummer nodded in understanding; Nathan had lost so much weight and so had Toki. He himself was starving, but his hunger wasn't as unbearable, he was sure, as the singer's was. As he thought this, the guitarist continued, "Normally I just walks around outside durings the day, and-"

"There ain't nobody left but us?" the drummer interrupted. Nathan gave him a deadly look.

"We're all each other needs." Toki answered sadly. "But I really do miss everyones else—Skwisgaar, Murderface, Ofdensens..."

"We don't talk about that." the singer said curtly. "Because everything's fine, just like before."

There was a long pause before Pickles inquired, "So we ain't gat electricity, runnin' water, food, or other people, but everything's just like it used to be?"

"Shut your fucking mouth!"

Toki just looked down and murmured, "Pickle, you ams smart." the other two men abandoned their anger and turned their eyes upon him as he asked, "Where you with Skwisgaar when he died?"

Nathan's face paled. "Toki, that's not-"

"Did you see hims die? Did it hurt hims?"

"Toki!" the singer snapped. "Nobody wants to hear about that!"

He looked down and let his head rest on his palm. "Sorrys, but I was just curious." and he picked at his nails and sighed. "I just miss hims."

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Later that night Nathan threw Pickles a blanket and pointed to the floor. "We sleep down there and Toki gets the couch."

"Fine with m-"

"Pickle can haves the couch." the guitarist blurted, collapsing onto his pile of pillows that were laying on the floor. "I don't minds."

Nathan shook his head at this. "No, you need the couch."

"What abouts you? You should haves the couch tonight, nots me. You always sleeps on the floor."

"Are you sure?"

"Ja, sures. I wants to be next to Pickle, anyways." he glanced over at the drummer and smiled sweetly. "I miss hims."

"But you spent the whole day talking to him. Maybe he wants you to leave him be." Nathan said skeptically, taking a seat on the only remaining couch in the house [the others had been singed, burned, and torn apart]. Pickles shook his head.

"Nah, s'cool, dude. I'll watch the kid tonight." he laid on the floor next to Toki and his pile of tattered pillows; he wrapped himself in a blanket and said tiredly, "G'night." there was no light penetrating the room except for one candle, which sat to the left of Toki, illuminating the exhausted look on his face in its warm, glowing light. Pickles frowned at this; the Norwegian didn't have a blanket. He reached over and placed a hand on Toki's shoulder lightly. "Hey, dude, you okay?"

"I'ms a little cold."

"Here. Take mine." he said, getting up and placing the blanket over the guitarist. He stared down at Toki and sighed. "You can't sleep, can you?"

"Nope."

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Befores it happened."

"Oh." he ran a hand thru his hair and nodded. "Yeah, I figured. You look tired."

There was a moment's hesitation before, "I can't sleeps at night, because I gets so scared." and Toki's pale eyes looked up and met the drummer's green ones. "What if it happens again? It ams just you, me and Nathans now, but what if someone gets hurt or tries to kill us agains? How ams we going to live thru that a second times?"

He didn't have an answer for this, so he just squeezed Toki's shoulder and whispered, careful not to disturb Nathan, "S'gonna be fine, okay? Me and Nathan won't let anything bad happen to you, not ever."

"That ams what Skwigaar always said." he looked away, cast his gaze to the flickering candle light, and let his eyes fill with tears.

Pickles frowned at this and felt a lump forming in his throat. "Dude, it's...s'gonna be fine, okay? He loved you a lot, and he...he would've rather it be him than you, do you understand? Don't cry no more, please."

"Pickle, when peoples die what happens to them?"

"They...uh...he's really happy, wherever he is." was all he could bring himself to say. It wasn't that he didn't have an answer or a thought on the matter, but now tears were quickly gathering at the corners of his eyes, threatening to overtake him and his effort to be strong in front of the guitarist.

"Ams you glad you woke up?"

An easy question, finally. "Course I am."

"Why?"

" 'Cause now I can talk with you and Nathan again. Look." he laid down next to Toki and gave him a supportive little smile. "I'll sleep here, right next to you tonight, okay?"

The Norwegian nodded and let out a large yawn. "Ja, sures. I'd appreciates that..." and he paused and looked around eerily. "Ams you sure I'll be safe?"

"Yeah, I'll protect you."

"Okays..."

"No matter what. I promise." Pickles rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "Just go to sleep for me, alright? Tomorrow we've gat a lot to do, a lot to see. I can't wait to actually go outside again; it's been so long."

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The next morning Pickles awoke, skipped breakfast, and followed Toki outside to run around. As soon as they were out of the Mordhaus, the Norwegian began running around and doing cart-wheels, clearly excited to be able to move and stretch his legs again. The drummer laughed at his oddly kiddish behavior and asked, just as Toki fell and landed on his ass, "What the hell are you so excited about?"

"Nathan makes me gos inside when it gets late."

"When's 'late'? You act like you haven't been outside in weeks."

"Late ams like one or two o'clock."

He laughed. "One or two? 'Dat's stupid! Why would he-"

"He doesn't wants me to get hurt." Toki said with a shrug before taking Pickles' hand and guiding him thru the overgrown yard.

The grass was long now, but it didn't disguise some of the carnage of the battle that had taken place so many weeks ago. All around them corpses were buried. Some had been forgotten and left to rot and become bloated in the hot afternoon sun; they were consumed by ants, maggots, flies, worms, and stank like holy hell. Yes, everything had changed very much indeed. Guns that littered the ground, though most of them were out of bullets and smashed into separate pieces or destroyed altogether; empty bullet shells were hidden in the grass, and every once in a while Pickles would kick one. They would make a small, subtle little _clink _against the toe of his sneaker.

Above them the once fresh, blue sky was now dyed a bloody red and overcast by maroon clouds. Pickles frowned at this and shielded his eyes against the sun—it was eclipsed by those bloody red clouds. "How long has the sky been like _that?"_

"Since what seems like forevers." Distractedly Toki kicked a bullet with his boot and watched it fly across the yard. "I can't remembers what the old sky looked like."

The drummer hurried after him. "S'blue, dude. Don't you remember?"

He shook his head. "Nos, not reallys."

They continued to walk along the path of macabre destruction; Pickles was completely taken aback by how horrible everything was, how morbid. Some of the black hoods that the Klokateers used to wear were scattered about the yard, hanging from trees and billowing in the light, sick breeze. Suddenly the drummer felt sick, but he didn't let Toki see this. Instead he followed him into the heart of the carnage and beyond, into the edge of the treeline where there was an old, bloodstained Gibson Explorer standing erect over a pile of dirt. His heart turned to ice.

"Is 'dat-"

"Ja."

He nodded, bit his lip in an effort not to cry. "Huh. S'nice, I guess."

"Me and Nathans, we did a little thing when we-" he cut himself off, wiped his eyes, and sighed mournfully. "He looked like he was sleepings, so I guess it wasn't sos bad. That's what Nathans said, you knows."

"What?"

"That when you die it ams just like sleeping, only you never wakes up and you keep dreaming forevers." and Toki smiled sadly and added in quiet contemplation, "Good dreams, never bad ones. You know what I thinks ams really the good part about dyings?"

Pickles felt his hands shaking, so he jammed them deep in the pockets of his pants to hide this; this was so impossible. Toki, taking about death as if it were something desirable, that he longed for? The drummer peered into the Norwegian's eyes and saw that beneath their crystal, innocent blue pools of purity there was something there that was missing. He couldn't place it, but there was something about him that just _wasn't there. _What was it? "What?" he finally asked. "What's the good part?"

"That there ams nothing that can hurt you, not ever." he knelt down next to Skwigsaar's grave and closed his eyes. He said something in Norwegian, kissed the guitar, and then stood up again. "Nathan doesn't likes to see me here; he says it ams bad for me, but I comes every day anyways. Sometimes I bring flowers, but I just likes to knows that he ams still here."

Pickles nodded. "Yeah, I know. He's still here, I guess, just nat...he's just in a better place." Wasn't that what people always said about those who had died? Wasn't that the universal, cold, and acceptable way to deal with someone who was suffering thru a loss? _They're in a better place, dear, don't cry, don't worry; they're watching you from Heaven, they're walking with Jesus on the streets of gold; they're much happier than any of us down here, trapped in this stupid world..._Pickles heard his heart pounding in his ears. None of this was right. He gazed up at the deadly sky and muttered thoughtfully, "A happier place." They continued on their walk and another question popped into the drummer's head. He turned to Toki and inquired, "What about Murderface? What happened to him?"

The guitarist hesitated before admitting, "I don'ts know. I think Nathan does, but he won't tells me."

"Oh." he looked down and walked over the reeking body of a deceased Klokateer. Toki smiled emptily up at the sky and let out a sigh of content.

"Thanks God you ams finally awake, Pickle. Thanks God you didn't go to sleeps, too. I don't know what I would've done...probably gones crazy or somethings."

"Yeah," he said, trying not to sound too worried. "me too."

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Later that night as the sky darkened to a deep, sick crimson and a full orange moon rose up into the sky, Toki and Pickles met Nathan in the living room. The drummer waved to him and grinned. "Hey, what's up?"

"Food—here." he threw Toki a can of food and sat down on the couch, let out a tired sigh.

"Where've you been all day?" Pickles asked Nathan as he took a seat next to him. "We ain't see you all da-"

"You let him stay out to late." he said harshly, watching as the guitarist ate his meal. "He shouldn't be out at night—the dark scares the shit out of him."

"Sorry, dude. I didn't know."

"There's a lot of things you don't know."

He felt himself growing angry. What was Nathan's problem? Pickles had just come to his senses, but already he was being fussed at? Screw that, he didn't need it. Life was already hard enough without all of that. He leaned close to the singer, trying to ensure that Toki couldn't hear him, and hissed in his ear, "Look, I've been killin' myself all day to keep that kid happy, to make sure that he doesn't break down or something, and I don't need your bullshit! Where's my food?"

"You don't get any; neither do I, not until breakfast." and Nathan motioned over Toki, who was still eating slowly, treasuring each bite of food that he could get. "It's not about us and what we want, not anymore. Like you said, it's about keeping him happy."

"Oh. Well I-"

From somewhere out in the night, there came a loud banging. They all looked around widely, and Toki gasped. "What was thats?"

Nathan immediately tried to seem calm as he said, "It was probably nothing. This place is a wreck, you know that. The Mordhaus is falling apart, and-"

Another banging, like the shot of a gun, and the guitarist's face was pale. "That wasn't the house, Nathans. It was-"

"A gun?" Pickles wondered aloud. He turned his attention to the singer and demanded, "Dude, I thought you said that we were the only ones left!"

"We are!"

"Then what-"

At the deadly look on Nathan's face, the drummer grew silent. The singer got to his feet, went over to a nearly sobbing Toki, and said kindly, "Look, I bet it's nothing. I'll just step outside and see if anything's wrong."

He latched onto Nathan's arm and shook his head desperately. "Nos, you can't! What if you gets hurt?"

"I won't." he pulled out of the guitarist's grasp and went to walk out of the room. Before leaving, he turned to Pickles and instructed darkly, "Watch him and make sure nothing happens."

"Course I will." he went over to the trembling Norwegian and sat down next to him. "Toki, I-"

The guitarist wrapped his arms around Pickles and hugged him tightly. "What if it ams something bad? What if they're back to kill us?"

"They ain't comin' back 'cause we're the only ones left."

"What if we're reallys not?" he was crying and struggling for breath; his eyes were shut tightly, and whenever another gunshot came, he let out a sob. "What if they hurts Nathans? What if-"

"Ssh, s'gonna be fine, alright?" Pickles held him tightly as his eyes surveyed the whole room, looking for something amiss. Everything was still and silent for the longest while. The only sound that could be heard was that of the guitarist's pleading, whispered prayers and crying.

"I really don't wants to die..."

"You're nat, okay? Me and Nathan would never let anything bad happen to you."

"What if you gets hurt again and don't wakes up?" Toki gave him a terrified look and delicately brushed a hand across Pickles' cheek. The drummer was slightly taken aback by this and blushed.

"Toki, what're you doing?"

"You gots some dirt on your face." he wiped it away and then looked back down at the floor. "Pickle?"

"Yeah?"

"Ams we going to be okay?"

He didn't hesitate to nod and whisper, "Of course we are. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you, not ever."

"You won't die, wills you?"

"No," he lied. "never."


	3. Sacrifice

_The end of the dream  
__will be when it  
__matters  
__all things lie_

_~~The End Of The Dream~~_

_hope is just a word  
__when you think in  
__Table Cloths  
__Laughter will not end_

_~~Hope Is Just~~  
__~~Poet: Jim Morrison~~Book: The American Night~~_

_**CHAPTER 3: SACRIFICE **_

Nathan entered the room much later, when Toki was laying asleep in Pickles' arms. He took one look at this and frowned in disgust. "You two...he's okay?"

He nodded. "Yep, he's good now. I don't know what happened, he just started cryin' and shaking and I didn't know what to do...I-"

"You know this is the eighteenth time he's done that this week, right?"

Pickles' eyes grew wide. _"Eighteenth?"_

Nathan pressed a finger to his lips, motioning for silence, then walked out of the room. "Come with me. We need to talk." The drummer gently laid Toki down onto the floor, covered him with a blanket, and then followed the singer. They walked outside into the red night; Pickles looked up at the sky and arched a brow. The clouds above them were an even deeper red than they had been before. It was like blood was raining down from the sky above, staining the clouds and dying the moon a strange orange. He swallowed nervously. "When'd the sky get like 'dat?"

"The world," Nathan said, leaning against the door frame in almost a leisure way. "is dying."

"Oh..." he scratched his head cluelessly and inquired after a moment, "how do you know?"

"Just look at it—the moon, even the sun looks dead, like blood." he ran a hand thru his long mass of black hair and added, "It's like the world is just bleeding to death..." and he glanced over at Pickles and said seriously, "Do you know how to use a gun?"

"Course I do."

"There's a cabinet in Ofdensen's office...there are guns in there. I want you to carry one wherever you go." he turned his gaze back out to the trees that surrounded the Mordhaus. "There's more than us in the world."

"But you said-"

"Do you really think I'd tell the truth in front of Toki? The kid's so scared he'll get killed that he can't even _sleep! _Just imagine what he'd do if I told him the truth."

Pickles put his hands in his pockets and sighed. "Life ain't simple no more, is it?"

"No. It never was." and he fowned deeply before admitting, "I don't know what to do with with Toki. He's so...it fucked him up really bad. Worse than any of us. I think-" his voice broke off as he tried to say, "-Skwisgaar might've had the right idea."

The drummer felt his heart sinking. "What d'you mean?"

Nathan gave him a serious, grave look and said quietly, "How much do you have to give to him? How much are you willing to give up to keep him alive?"

"Toki..." his voice trailed off as he thought for a moment. Still, he didn't understand. "I don't get it. He'll be fine, won't we? We're the only ones left, right?"

"They'll be back, and when they do come back we'll be the only people standing between them and the kid." the singer growled. "Can you handle that?"

Pickles looked down at his shoes. Giving everything up to protect the guitarist? Surely Toki was the only person in the world who he loved enough to even _consider _doing this for. "Y-Yeah, I guess. I mean, we're nat gonna die, right?"

"How long do you think we can honestly keep holding out like this?" Nathan wondered. "Living like damn animals, being scared at the slightest..." he sighed in frustration and rubbed his tired eyes. "Toki's not right, not anymore. Listen to me and listen good; he needs us—_you. _When I'm there, it's okay, but when he's with you it like...I guess you remind him of what it used to be like. Don't you see it? He's taking everything way too hard. He cared too much, that's his problem." and he leaned close to Pickles and whispered, "That night he lost way more than we did—sure, they money's gone, and the fame and the girls, but he lost his family."

"So did we."

Nathan chuckled bitterly. "You honestly think that you're as sorry as him? He's so...he can't handle it." and he paused, searched for an argument to prove his point, and came up with, "After his dad died, do you remember how all he did was drink?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "course I do."

"Well he's so bad now that I don't know what to do...I've tried, I really have, but I don't think anything can fix him." and he put a hand on the doorknob and swallowed. "Just be ready, okay? It's not over, nothing is. I don't want to see him suffer or die. He's too..."

"I get it," Pickles said, following him back into the house. "and I'll protect him with everything I've got."

"Which is?"

He smiled in a subtle sort of misery and whispered, "Dude, I've got one life that I'm not usin' that much of—I guess he can have that if he needs it." Nathan lead him up the wrecked stairs to where Ofdensen's office used to be. The drummer hesitated before entering. "So 'dis is where you hang out all day?"

He nodded and slowly walked over to one of the large, cracked windows. "Yeah. It's good, because I can see everything in here—the whole yard."

"To watch over Toki, right?"

Nathan smiled. "Never thought I'd have to raise a kid."

"I don't think any of us ever thought this would happen." Pickles stated as he sat down on Ofdensen's old desk. "Where are the guns?"

"That cabinet over there." he motioned to a little drawer in the desk and said, "I don't want to use them until I have to, though."

" 'Kay." he yawned and stretched. "Gad, I'm tired."

"You wanna go back down and sleep with Toki?"

"What are you gonna do?"

Nathan shrugged and continued staring out the window. "Just watch."

"Is 'dat all you ever do now?"

He thought for a moment then nodded. "Yeah, I guess it is."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

"Pickle, come looks over here!" Toki called, jumping over a fallen branch, indicating something that was lying on the ground.

"Hold an, I'm comin', I'm comin'!" he said back as he hurried to catch up to him. Once he had, he was panting hard. "Don't run ahead of me like that again. Just keep close, alright?"

"Sorrys." he said, still pointing to the ground. "Looks!"

It was a tattered flag, one that was black and had red gears sewn into it. Pickles frowned down at it and asked, "This is one of ours, right?"

"Ja, I founds it last week." he pointed up at a tree and said, "And look, there ams one of their hood things."

Pickles looked up and saw one of the black hoods that the Klokateers used to wear hanging from the branch of a tree. He grimaced, took Toki's hand, and began to lead him out of the forest. "Maybe we should g-"

"Waits, looks at this!" he knelt down, picked up an empty bullet shell, and threw it against the hard trunk of a tree, where it made a lovely _clink! _The drummer urged him on, towards the treeline.

"You know Nathan doesn't like-" But Toki wasn't listening to him anymore. He had stopped walking and was digging in the pockets of his torn jeans. Pickles frowned at this. "What's wrong? You look pale. Are you sick?"

The guitarist shook his head and took a folded picture out of his pocket. He studied it before passing it to the drummer. "I killed that guy." he commented, his face ashen and emotionless. "I shots him right in the head."

"Maybe he deserved it." Pickles muttered, looking down at the old, singed photograph. It was a nice one, one of a man with his wife and child. He passed it back to Toki and asked, "So what's the big deal about him?"

"He was a Klokateer—_421."_

"Okay, so?"

"So I killed him."

"Why?"

Toki looked away and bit his lower lip. "I thinks...I don't feel good. I feel sick. Can we leaves?"

"Sure, but what-"

"Remember when you and Skwisgaar made me run intos the forest? Remember hows I never looked back?"

Pickles nodded. "Course I do."

"He was ons the ground. I found him and he was abouts to die; he asked me to kills him, so I took his gun." and the Norwegian's eyes filled with tears at the memory. "Sos I was about to pull the trigger when he just gave me this picture and told me to remembers him. 'Please,' he said to me, 'remembers me, Master Toki. Don't thinks of me like all the others; I _died _for you'."

The drummer felt a sick feeling arising in his stomach. Suddenly he wanted to vomit. "I...okay, and what happened next?"

Toki's pale eyes met the other man's green ones as he said, his voice full of pain and misery, "I shot him right there, just likes that. I didn't thinks twice about it, either. I just...I _hads _to, don't you get it? He was goings to die anyways, so I hads to!" there was a definite hint of guilt in his voice. He didn't bother to hide it, either.

"I know," Pickles tried to say. "I-"

"And so now I remembers him." he grew silent for a moment then whispered, still staring at the picture, "It was a mess...so much blood and his face—it ams amazing how much one person can bleed." he closed his eyes. "Amazings."

"Toki?"

"Huh?" he opened his eyes and seemed to temporarily snap back to normal. In a second the picture was safely tucked back into his pocket and he was walking with Pickles out of the forest. "I still wonder what happened to that guy's wife and kid. Do you think they ams stills okay, living off canned food and bathing in lakes likes we ams doing?"

Pickles shrugged and took the guitarist's hand as he walked. "I dunno. Maybe. I'm sure they're okay wherever they are, though."

"Better than us?"

"Maybe."

"I sure hopes so."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

They sat outside watching the sun set behind the darkened forest. Pickles had his green eyes fixated up at the sky, but Toki was too busy picking the grass beneath his bare feet to really care about anything. He rested his head against the drummer's shoulder and smiled dreamily at the dead grass that he plucked up. "Everything seems dead," he said distractedly. "evens the grass ams dying."

Nathan's words echoed in the drummer's brain; _The world is bleeding..._

"S'nat, it only seems that way." Pickles commented, draping an arm over the Norwegian's skinny shoulders. "The sky's really cool now, huh?" he was trying to change the subject. "Didn't you and Skwisgaar used to go out and try to see who could count the most stars?"

Toki nodded. "It was a games, a stupids ones—we would sneaks out of the house, lay down in the grass, and count the stars. Whoever would count the most before falling asleep would win." and he laughed. "I always lied and said that I had countes more than him, but it didn't matter. That was what mades it so fun anyways. Nobody would ever wins."

"How many did you get up to?"

"Likes a millions, I think." he peered up at the starry sky and inquired, "How many stars do you really think there ams up there?"

Pickles frowned in thought before answering, "Like prob'ly a zillion."

"A zillions exactlys?"

"Yep."

"How you knows?"

"I just do."

"Hm." he smiled at the drummer. "You ams really smart."

He shook his head in disagreement. "Nah, not really."

"Pickle?"

"Yeah?"

Toki yawned a little and scooted closer to Pickles. "I bet I can count more stars than you cans."

He smirked. "Y'think so? I bet you can't."

And they spent the whole rest of the blood-red night counting the neon stars. The next morning they were awoken by Nathan marching out of the house and howling, "Pickles, you fucker, get your sorry ass up_ now!"_

"Huh?" he sat up and dusted some grass off of his shirt. The singer was standing above him, an enraged look on his face.

"Where were you both last night? I stayed up the whole damn time waiting for you!"

"We was countings stars." Toki said defensively. "And I gots the most."

Pickles narrowed his eyes at the guitarist. "Did nat! I did!"

"How manys?"

"One-hundred-gabillion and two."

"I gots more!"

"No you don't!"

"What the fuck are you two dildos talking about?" Nathan demanded.

Toki looked up at him, smiled sweetly, and explained, "We counted the stars last nights and I got eight-thousand-bazillions-nine-hundred-thou-"

"Just shut up and get your sorry ass back in the house." the singer growled. Toki sighed in irritation, but complied to his request without question; clearly Nathan was not someone to be trifled with at this hour. Pickles did so as well, and they were both forced to stay inside for the rest of the day.


	4. Guardian

_get ready for the Night  
__the rumors on waking  
__a gradual feeling of  
__learning & remembering_

_imagine a heaven in the  
__night-time  
__would one member be missing?_

_~~Electric Storm~~_

_Reality is what has been  
__concealed from us  
__for so long_

_birth sex death  
__we're alive when we laugh  
__when we can feel the  
__rush & spurt of blood_

_~~Cock-Pit~~  
__~~Poet: Jim Morrison~~Book: The American Night~~_

_**CHAPTER 3: GUARDIAN **_

The next day's adventures all began with the complaint of, "Gad, do I feel like crap." It had lead to Toki giving Pickles a quick survey and saying, "You needs a bath." Naturally, there wasn't any running water, so they were left to venture out into the deep recesses of the forest to find any kind of salvation from their filth. It was a secret place the guitarist and Nathan went to many times. Toki was quite sure that it was the only source of clean, fresh water on the whole thousands of acres of the Mordhaus, so he was quite proud of himself as he lead Pickles thru the overgrown brush and trees.

"Does anyone else know about 'dis place?" the drummer asked as he stumbled over a branch. Toki walked ahead of him and shook his head.

"Nopes, only me and Nathans."

"You're sure?"

"Ja...probablys."

"_Probably?" _he struggled to keep up with the Norwegian as they walked. "Dude, I don't wanna get killed, okay?"

"You won'ts...probably."

"Can't you just get rid of the 'probably'?" They walked in silence until they came to a clearing; there was a shining, clear lake in the middle of the clearing, one that reflected the light of the glowing sun. It was an oddly peaceful place, one that didn't seem contaminated by the rest of the world's filth. Pickles arched a brow. "So this is it?"

He nodded. "It ams nice, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess..." he glanced over at Toki and arched a brow. "So...uh...you gonna stay here while I, y'know, get naked?"

"Well I can't leaves."

"Why nat?"

"I'm scared."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, just...I dunno, don't look so much at stuff."

"Turns around?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so; whatever keeps you nat lookin' at me's good, I guess."

Toki tried not to laugh at the drummer's hesitation. "Okays, whatever." he turned his back to Pickles and began taking off his own clothes. The other man turned red.

"Uh...Toki?"

"Hm?"

"Why're _you _takin' your clothes aff?"

"You expects me to just not take shower?" he asked, slipping his shirt above his head. "Why can you takes a bath and I can't?"

He thought for a moment then sighed. "Fine, just don't turn around." Pickles took off all of his clothes then, while Toki still had his back to him, walked slowly into the little pond. It wasn't as cold as he expected it to be—it was quite warm, in fact. Almost pleasant.

"Your eyes ams closed?"

He covered his face with his hands and called, "Dude, I ain't gonna look. Trust me."

In a moment Toki was soaking in the water too, a look of relief on his face. "This ams nice, huh?"

Pickles nodded and went to the opposite side of the small pond. "Yeah, sure, just don't come over here. This half's mine."

The Norwegian arched a brow. "Wowee, you ams really shy, huh?"

"Am nat!"

"When me and Nathans comes down he here don't care what I see."

A look of envy came across Pickles' face. He didn't know why, but he just didn't like to hear that anyone had been with Toki in this place other than him. This was _their _place, their only safe haven in the world. He dipped his head underwater for a moment then came up and wiped the water from his eyes. "You come down here with Nathan a lot?"

Toki nodded. "Ja, he didn't likes me to go anywhere alones."

"Huh." he looked down at the gently rippling surface of the water and felt himself blushing again. The Norwegian was _his _to protect, _his _to look after, wasn't he? Damn it, why had he allowed himself to be asleep for so long? "So he saw you...y'know..." _Naked?_

"Maybes." he shrugged, obviously unconcerned with the thought. "I'm not likes you—I don't gives a fuck who sees me naked."

"I don't care neither!"

He let out a snicker. "Ja you dos."

"That's it—come here, you little prick." Pickles took hold of Toki's arm and pulled him close. They were so near each other that the flatness of their stomachs touched, and the drummer could feel the well-defined abs of the Norwegian flexing beneath the surface of the water. "Who said I was shy?"

He just smiled, his cheeks a little red. "I'm reallys glad that you're awake, that you ams the one whose here with me..."

"Okay." he released the guitarist and swallowed. "I'm glad I'm here too, I guess."

"Can't you takes the 'guess' outs of there?"

He grinned and shook his head stubbornly. "Nope." Toki smiled and Pickles felt his whole body warm up, as if his heart were suddenly on fire. He sank beneath the surface of the pond, desperate to feel its calming coolness, but was surprised when that warm, glowing feeling didn't disappear. He rose to the surface and, without thinking, pressed a hand to the Norwegian's cheek. Lightly he traced the healing cut that was there. "Where'd you get that?"

"That night...it ams no big deal." he shrank away from the drummer's touch, but Pickles wouldn't yield; he slipped an arm around Toki's waist and pulled him closer.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you...keep you safe..."

"You dids."

"No, I could've done better."

"You dids fine. We were scared, there wasn't anything else you coulds have done." the guitarist gave him a reassuring smile and insisted, "Reallys."

"But you got hurt."

"Sos did you."

"Still, I wish-"

"I wish for a lot of things, but I know it will never happens." Toki cut him off and rested his forehead against the drummer's. He closed his eyes and said quietly, "I wish that that night had never happened, but it did."

"I wish..." Pickles felt his hands traveling down, down beneath the surface of the water, down until they rested at the small of the Norwegian's back. _I wish that I could have this..._Toki opened his pale eyes, a surprised expression on his face.

"What ams you doing?"

"I wanna protect you," he whispered, brushing his lips along the other man's cheek. "Is 'dat okay?"

"J-Ja, buts..."

"Let me take care of you." Pickles begged, holding Toki tightly in his arms. He was so terrified, so worried that at any moment this would be ruined my more death and pain...his eyes were full of a kind of urgent need as he met the Norwegian's innocently pure gaze. "I'll give you anything."

"You don't haves nothing left to give." he said, blushing.

"I can find something." and he kissed Toki's cheek, then his forehead. "Let me show you what I have..."

The water flowed around them, reflected the dying sky above. For Pickles it was perfect; he could feel the slick warmth of the guitarist's body pressed against his, feel the other man's full and insistent need. Still, it could go so terribly wrong, just like everything else that had happened over the past few weeks. He'd learned that no matter what, time would always be short and life would always find a way to hurt you—would Toki hurt him, too? He could rip Pickles apart so easily, end him just like that. Whether it be by death or by simply telling him no, that he didn't want his 'protection', the other man could quickly tear him in half. This idea scared the drummer, made him want to pull away, take back his words, and quit everything, but he couldn't. He ignored that biting urge and kissed the top of the Norwegian's head, desperate to hide his inner and weaker emotions.

"Maybe you shoulds protects me..." Toki said in a secretive whisper, as if he were afraid for anyone else to hear him. "...and maybe I should protects you from this stupids, bad world..."

"Dude?"

"Ja?"

Pickles tried to find something to say, something that would make the guitarist's want to kiss him and make love to him, but could only come up with, "World's nat really so bad if you're still in it."

Toki _did _kiss him, then. He kissed him like he'd never been kissed before, so hungrily and with so much hot passion. "I loves you," he announced over and over again as he held the drummer's face and kissed him. "I loves you, I loves you..."

"Toki, I-"

"God, I loves you so much..."

"Stap!" he was panting, his face almost as red as his hair as he pulled away from the Norwegian. "You're not even gonna give me a chance to talk?" Toki looked down, a shamed look on his face.

"Sorrys. Was that too much?"

"Too much?" he chuckled. "No, it wasn't _enough. _Come here." he wrapped his arms around Toki and pressed his lips against his. Slowly his tongue entered the other man's mouth, played and taunted, dared him to come and deepen the kiss. Toki complied, went rigid in the drummer's arms, and let out a startling moan.

"I loves you." he repeated, pulling away in an effort to catch his breath. He hugged Pickles tightly and let his head fall against the drummer's shoulder. "Just don't gos nowhere, okay? Not like Skwisgaar and Murderface...likes everyone."

"I won't, just as long as you don't go anywhere either."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

The old car, beat up, dented, and riddled with bullet holes; an ancient-looking, singed and tattered American flag was draped across the backseat of it. It had been a birthday—or dethday—present for Murderface. The bassist had loved history, and had been thrilled to get the car that Kennedy had been assassinated in. It was nearly destroyed after the derby they had put it thru, but just usable for a good resting place that night. It sat under the stars now, up on a hill by piles of other old junk that the band had either discarded or gotten tired of. Tonight, though, it was a prize.

Toki lead the drummer over to it, jumped over piles of rusted junk and shattered glass. "There it ams!" he said, motioning to it grandly. The old car didn't have a roof, so it had a perfect view of the stars that hung above its tired and worn metal frame. Pickles hopped in the backseat and snatched the American flag that was draped so gracefully over it. He leaned over and opened the door for Toki.

"Whose shy now?" he mused, watching the Norwegian's usually fair complexion turn rosy.

"Nobodys!" Toki retorted, climbing into the back seat. He closed the door after him and laid down gently in the drummer's arms. His eyes drifted closed as he said, "Nathan will worrys abouts us; we haven't been home all days."

They'd spent the whole day messing around in the pond. Only when the moon had risen above the trees had they gotten dressed and come here. "Maybe he should learn to get over himself. We're big boys, we can take care of ourselves." he delicately played with a strand of Toki's hair. "Right?"

"Ja."

"And we can do whatever we want."

The Norwegian looked up at him, a brow arched. "We cans?"

Pickles let a devious grin come across his face as he nodded and repeated with emphasis, _"Whatever we want."_

"What dos _you _wants to do?"

"Lay here with you."

"Okays, so-"

"And kiss you." he wanted do more, but he was sure that it would come later. Now he just pressed his lips against Toki's and smiled. "You like kissin' me?"

"Uh-huh." he said, his voice a warm whisper of affection.

Pickles chuckled softly and lightly brushed his lips across the guitarist's. "Good." and his hands crept down until they found Toki's belt. He didn't have to speak one word to get the Norwegian to get naked for him again. It happened in a matter of a minute, and once it was done he took off his own clothes and laid down in the back seat of the car, stared up at the sky. Toki was laying on top of him, his gentle weight bringing him some sort of subtle comfort in the dark and blood-red night. Nothing could hurt them now, nothing could touch them—not death, not bullets or fire...

"I needs you." Toki said, taking the drummer's hand.

Pickles met his gaze and smiled. "You do, huh?"

"To stays with me and-" he swallowed. "-keeps me warm."

"I can do that." he breathed, closing his eyes as he felt Toki's stiff erection pressing against his inner thigh. "I can do anything you want me to."

"How much time do you think we have left?"

"Huh?"

"Befores the world finally dies? Hows much time do _we _have left."

He thought for a moment before responding. "I don't know, but I know that we at least have tonight."

There was a sort of unspoken wish between the two of them, a need to fulfill their desires and finally be bound to each other, so that no matter what else on Earth happened—more fires, more guns and pain, and more death and grief—they'd still have and be with each other thru it all. Even if one of them...no, the thought was too impossible, but still a painful reality. It was decided then by both of them that if one of the other perished or was hurt, then they'd suffer that same fate, too. After tonight they'd be each other's, have part of the other branded within them forever. It would never be the same. Pickles had always been quite sure that there would come a day when he'd have to die, but he'd never figured that it would be because he'd have to protect someone that he actually truly loved. He smiled at Toki, kissed him, and tasted that sweet, tender serenity that he'd dreamed about for so long. He'd wanted this kind of peace, this kind of togetherness with someone for the longest time...

Pickles was dimly aware of his own growing need; he only acknowledged it when Toki gently and slowly ran a hand along his throbbing erection. He let out a little moan and warned, "You're gonna make me cum doin' that."

"Sorrys." he said, pulling away. The drummer shook his head and took Toki's hand, kissed the palm.

"No, I like it." and he shifted under the Norwegian and sat up. "Here, lemme..." the guitarist let Pickles change positions and climb on top of him. "You're hard." he observed, stroking Toki's stiffened cock. "Ready to..." his voice trailed off and he swallowed, prepared himself silently for what was about to happen.

The love they made that night was incredible; Pickles had never had to be that slow and tender with someone in his life. Toki had been so sweet, still so innocent even as the drummer filled him. He had taken him with a single moan and urged him to keep going, not to hesitate. In the end they were both spent and covered in each other's love, sweating and exhausted. Toki held Pickles, played with a bit of his hair as the drummer finished.

"You...thats was..."

"You liked it?" he asked, kissing Toki's cheek. The guitarist nodded and closed his eyes. After that they both fell into a deep, oddly peaceful sleep. For the first time in a great while, Toki didn't have any nightmares that night.

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

The smell of blood, sweat, gunpowder, and smoke was what awoke Pickles that night. His eyes slowly opened and he looked around the interior of the car, searching for any kind of explanation for the ghastly smells. When he found nothing he looked up and sighed. Did Toki smell it? He glanced over at the Norwegian, saw that he was still sleeping, and a deep, thoughtful frown came upon his face. The smell was getting stronger now, and there was another disgusting odor accompanying the other ones; death.

"Pickle, ams yous awake?" He gasped, looked back over to Toki, but discovered that he was still sleeping. The voice grew loud, more persistent. It was close, in his ear almost. "Ammnest you awake?"

Pickles looked in the front seat and let out a loud, surprised yell at what he saw; Skwisgaar was smiling at him from the driver's seat, an amused look on his pale face. He looked much like he had the night he'd been killed, only now he wasn't in pain and blood wasn't steadily trickling from between his lips—it was there though, splattered on his face, staining his lips, and dried on his chin. When he smiled his teeth were dyed red as well, a morbid reminder of just how he had died. Still, he didn't hesitate to reach out a dirty, soot-covered hand to Pickles and touch the drummer's forehead. It was as if the Swede was trying to assure himself that he was there, no longer a mere ghost, invisible to the naked eye. "So, you wokes up, huh? Gods, I wish I could do 'dat. Weren't you shot likes me?"

"I..." he shook himself and felt the cool touch of the Swede. "You're dead."

He nodded, some strands of his blond hair falling in his face. It was greasy and full of gray ash."Ja."

"But you're here?"

"Ja."

"So that means I'm...and if Tokis here, he's..."

Skwisgaar smiled down at the still sleeping Norwegian and arched a brow. "Why ammnest you twos naked together? You fuck or somethings?"

Pickles felt his face turn red as he realized that he was fully exposed in front of the Swede. He took the American flag that he'd thrown on the floor before and spread it over he and Toki. "Don't look at him! He's-"

"Yours, right?"

"I...uh..." the drummer's mind froze and all he could think to do was ask, "Are we dead?"

Skwisgaar shook his head. "Nope." blood stained his shirt, reminding Pickles of just where he'd been shot; the bullet had ripped thru his stomach, his guts. The drummer paled at the thought of how painful this death must have been and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry you died."

"Don'ts be stupid, just looks." the Swede took his hand, pulled him close, and glanced over at Toki. He whispered, careful not to wake up the sleeping Norwegian, "You ammnest not deads, but _I _am and I gots to tells y-."

"Then how come you're here?"

"Listens to me and listens good. You see the sky ups there?"

Pickles nodded. "Course I do. It's red."

"What color did the sky used to bes?"

He thought for a moment and came up clueless. "I...uh..."

"How easily you forgets." The Swede said sadly. "Pickle, do you know why I ammnest heres?"

"Because I let you die and-"

"No, because I don't want to sees you making the same mistakes I did." he gave Toki a soft look and added, "There ammnest stills bad in this world, Pickle. You knows that, don't you? Don't let it hurt him, please. Don't lets anything bad happen to littles Toki."

"I...I won't..."

"Gives him your life."

"I already have."

He nodded and then turned his gaze up to the sky. "I miss hims; does he know how I died?"

"We've never really talked about it." the drummer admitted.

"Huh." he smiled bitterly before saying, "Hey, I'll sees you later, okay? Just remember what I said, alright? Remembers to-"

"Skwisgaar," Pickles interrupted. "is something bad gonna happen to us—me and Nathan?"

He just shrugged and said smartly, "Do _you _thinks something bad will happen?"

"I..." he ran a hand thru his hair and sighed in frustration. "I don't know! I don't know anything anymore...hey, do you-" when he looked back over to where the Swede had been sitting, he discovered that he was gone. He was alone with Toki again, sitting in the car under the full night sky.

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

"Skwisgaar!" Pickles exclaimed, opening his eyes. He gasped and looked around, his green eyes wide and shining in the red light of the full, orange moon. Toki gave him a strange look and arched a brow.

"Pickle, why you yells? I was sleepings."

"I...uh..." he swallowed and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "I had a bad dream."

"Ohs." he let out a tired breath and his head fall back onto the drummer's bare chest. "Okays, I guess..."

There was a long moment of silence before Pickles spoke; he didn't know what to say, so he just blurted out the first thing that he could think of. "Toki, have you ever heard of Eden—y'know that story in the Bible?" Yes, that was good. Something nice to think about to take his mind off things.

The Norwegian opened his eyes and laughed. "Whats ams you talking about?"

"Haven't you ever read the Bible?" he inquired, smiling up at the moon. "Eden is like this perfect garden, a place where nothing bad happens and there ain't nothing to be scared of..." in his own heart he felt a slow, growing fear of what was to come. There was so much talk about throwing away his life, so much hurt still inside of him...what could he do? He didn't know. Maybe talking about some other nice, perfect place might help.

Toki gave him a curious look. "Whats about Eden? Did you dreams about it or somethings?"

Pickles shook his head. "Nah, but haven't you ever just wondered...haven't you ever just really wanted to go to someplace else?" he hesitated before saying in a quiet sort of honesty, "I'm so tired of livin' scared everyday, y'know? I just wanna take a break from it, from everything."

"And gos to Eden?"

The drummer shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." and he ran a hand along the small of the guitarist's naked back, gently caressing him. "Everything's perfect there, nat like here."

"Likes what?" Toki was staring at him with wide eyes full of childish amazement. "What ams so perfect?"

"Just everything, like the fruit growing an the trees," Pickles explained dreamily. "it's so sweet and good that it's like nothing you've ever tasted. You can eat a whole bunch of it and never get sick, too. You never have to worry about where your next meal's gonna come from or-"

"Whats abouts the people there?" the Norwegian asked, sounding eager to learn about this fantastic and imaginary garden. "What ams they like?"

"You can meet whoever you want there, anyone at all."

"Skwisgaar and Murderface?"

Pickles thought for a moment then nodded. "Sure, I guess." he kissed the top of Toki's head and added, "And everything's so perfect there, that there isn't any bad, either. Did you know that? That there's a such place with no bad in it, only good and happy stuff."

"No mores pain?"

"Nope. No more fear, neither."

Toki grinned. "I wants to go there. Can we go there, Pickle?"

"Maybe," he said with a wistful sigh. "one day."

"Can we gos, just the two of us, and just stays there forever—gets away from this place?"

"Sure," Pickles watched as maroon clouds moved over the moon and temporarily blocked its glowing orange light. "one day soon."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

****A/N****

**Thought I'd get this chapter out before Monday. For the record, I don't really know where the whole Eden idea came from. It was just in my mind, so I rolled with it. Skwisgaar will not be coming back. He's officially dead...well, I guess he **_**might **_**come back. I've made a few plot changes, so I'm not sure what's going to happen. I know what the sex and stuff happened kind of quickly, but honestly if you didn't know if you were going to live tomorrow—if the world was literally falling apart around you—would you really waste time with someone that you loved?**

**Peace, Love & Death?**


	5. Last Days

_Sudden attack  
__Stabbed & hacked but no  
__pain no death_

_Zone of silence  
__Sudden powered  
__mute strangeness  
__& awareness  
__most awkward to the mind  
__alive w/love & laughter  
__& memory sweet of kinder  
__times  
__when we spoke & words  
__had soft form by  
__a fire_

_~~Poem: Sudden Attack~~Poet: Jim Morrison~~Book: The American Night~~_

_**CHAPTER 5: LAST DAYS**_

So bored; long, unpredictable days—sometimes baking hot and other times frigid and snowing. The world was in limbo, going from hot to cold, summer to winter, from one moment to another, never mild, always extreme. For Pickles and Toki it was just like before. They sat bored outside one day on the cracked steps of the decrepit Mordhaus. The guitarist let his head rest on his palm; a deep sigh came from him as he kicked at a pebble.

"I'ms bored."

"Me too."

"Let's do somethings fun then."

He gave Toki a grave look and reminded him, "Y'know Nathan wouldn't like 'dat very much." ever since they'd returned from their night together, the singer had been watching the drummer very closely. He'd given him and Toki a whole hour-long lecture about responsibility and all that stupid crap. Pickles had felt like he was a teenager again.

"...and another thing," Nathan had said. "Toki shouldn't be _seeing _all that shit outside, anyway. It's too violent for him."

The drummer, who had a horrible, humorous sneer on his face by that point in the singer's speech, had rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Yeah, right, like we're nat in a band called _Dethklok _or nothin'...he's seen it before."

Now Pickles just yawned and stretched, quite bored with the day. "What can we do 'dat won't make him mad?"

"We coulds..." he frowned in thought. "I don't know. Maybe we should just go sits around in Ofdensen's old office. It ams kind of fun in th-"

"Guns!" Pickles' eyes lit up with his sudden idea. He took Toki's hand, helped him to his feet, and exclaimed, "Dude, you ever shoot rats?"

"I...what?"

"You wanna shoot some rats?" he motioned to the huge yard and explained, "Rats, dude, _rats! _We gat a million of them and there are guns in Afdensen's office!"

He smiled, amused by the drummer's new found excitement. "Okays, sure, so whats about the rats?"

"You wanna shoot 'dem?"

In a few minutes Pickles had managed to steal a single handgun from Ofdensen's office; he and Toki went to Murderface's old car [the one they had slept together in], stood on top of its rusted hood, and were shot at the rats that scurried in between the piles of junk. The drummer pointed to a broken window that was laying in the grass and exclaimed, "Look, 'dere's one!"

"Wheres! I—oh, I gots it!" Toki aimed, pulled the trigger, and laughed when the rat was sent flying into the air as the bullet hit it. Pickles gave him a smile and pulled him close.

"You look hot with that gun."

The Norwegian blushed. "Thanks."

The drummer kissed him and claimed the gun. He began kissing Toki some more, teasing him with his tongue, and blindly fired a shot behind him. A rat flew up in the air and its blood splattered over some rusted junk. "You gots it." Toki said, glancing over at the rat. "And you wasn't even lookings."

"Huh." he looked down at the gun and shrugged. "Guess I did kill it."

"That was amazings."

"You know what else is amazing?"

"Hmm?" he asked, turning his attention back to Pickles; he put some hair behind his ears, better exposing his pale, shining eyes.

"Lemme show you." the drummer wrapped his arms around Toki and quietly kissed him again, deeply and longingly. He didn't notice that his grip on the gun had failed and he was now using his hands to feel around the guitarist's perfect body. Maybe the day wasn't going to be so boring after all.

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

"Have you ever climbed a tree?" Pickles asked, hanging from a branch upside down. Toki looked up at the him and watching as the redhead swung back and forth.

A curious look came over his face as he said, "Once, to gets away from my dad."

"What happened?"

"I fell and brokes my leg."

Pickles laughed. "That sucks!"

"And he beats me."

"Oh. That ain't funny."

Toki shook his head. "No, I guess it wasn't."

The drummer grabbed the Norwegian's hand, kissed it, and fell from the high branch of the tree. He landed on his feet and grinned. "Come an, lemme show you how to climb a Gad damn tree."

"I _knows _how to do it!"

"Then do it!"

"Fines, I will!"

He motioned to the very large, leafless oak that he'd just dropped from. "Be my guest, babe."

"Okays." he walked over to the tree and jumped up, trying to get a hold of a branch. He attempted this two or three more times, trying to ignore Pickles' laughter, before finally admitting in defeat, "I can't dos it."

"Yeah you can, just try 'dat one more time. Like _this." _the drummer walked up beside him, latched onto a thick branch, and pulled himself up. He stared down at Toki, an oddly serious look on his face. "Just don't fall, or I'll have to catch you and bust my ass."

He leaped up, took hold of a branch, and hung there for a moment, trying to get a good grip. Pickles reached down and took his hand, tried to help him up. Once he had managed to pull Toki up next to him, the branch they were occupying began splintering under their combined weight. Nimbly, the drummer jumped up to the branch above and waved down at Toki.

"Hey, sexy."

"Shuts up!" he said, hugging the trunk of the tree. "You're so stupids and immature, makings me climb trees and callings me that."

"But it's _true!"_

"Be quiet." he insisted, turning red and glancing down at the ground. "Or I'lls fall."

Pickles' face paled. He shimmed down his branch and onto another, closer to Toki. "Don't even joke, dude, or I'll haul your ass outta this tree right now."

"Bet you wouldn't."

"Becha I would."

He smiled cunningly. "Proves it."

"I ain't gotta prove nothin'." he said, swinging over and giving Toki a slap on the ass. "Cause you're my bitch, so I don't have to tell you nothin', just lay you down and screw you." of course he was joking, and proved this by going daringly up to his love and giving him a tender, sweet kiss on the cheek. "But I won't do that, neither."

"Whys not?" he said, almost pouting.

" 'Cause you deserve better'n that."

"Huh." he grew silent, seemingly puzzled by this concept. It was as if he'd never thought of this before, and clearly the idea made him giddy. In a moment he was clinging to Pickles, wrapping his arms around the drummer's hips and lightly kissing his stomach. The drummer peered down at him, an affectionate smile on his face.

"You love me, babe?"

"Nos." When the drummer's face paled, Toki added smartly, "I would love for you to gets me out of this fuckings tree, though."

" 'Dat hurts." Pickles said, turning away from him.

"Not as much as falling out of this tree woulds."

"True. I—hold an!" he grabbed the guitarist's shirt as he fell back. "Don't fall!"

"I just losts my balance for a second!" Toki explained, gripping the branch he was sitting on tightly. "Gets me down!"

"Okay, okay, I—_fuck!"_

The guitarist panicked and shifted his weight on the branch just enough for it to crack; Pickles pulled him off of it, threw him onto another branch, and jumped up to latch on to another. In a moment the drummer was hanging by a thin branch and Toki was sitting a ways away from him. "You almost fells." the Norwegian observed.

"Yeah, I-"

"Ams you going to fall?"

"I'm tryin' _nat _to, but..." his voice trailed off as he managed to pull himself up. Pickles let out a deep, troubled breath, and leaned against the trunk of the tree. "Toki?" he called down to the guitarist.

"Ja?"

"Get your own ass outta this tree."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

"Okay, okay, I gat one." Pickles said, laying down on the floor next to Toki and smiling. "You gatta guess it, alright?"

"Sures. How ams it goes?"

"Bang your head  
Metal health will drive you mad  
Bang your head  
Metal health will drive you mad..."

He frowned and shrugged, a clueless look on his face. "I don't knows. Ams that even a real song?"

The drummer's eyes grew wide. "A real—oh my Gad! Ain't you never heard of Quiet Riot?"

He shook his head. "Nos, but I gots a song for you."

Pickles sighed in defeat—Toki would never learn—and turned his gaze up to the ceiling. "Fine, go ahead."

"It's so easy, ea-"

"_It's So Easy,_ by Guns N' Roses. Duh. Pick a hard one."

Toki glared at him and nodded. "Fines, I will. Okays..." he thought for a moment then began singing, "I feel stupid-"

"_Smells Like Teen Spirit_ by Nirvana. Gad." he rolled his eyes. "Fuckin' _Nirvana? _They ain't even rock, just stupid, Emo-kid grunge."

"They ams so much better than stupids Guns N' Roses,though!" he said defensively. Pickles laughed and slapped him playfully on the shoulder, as if he thought the guitarist was only joking.

"Yeah, sure. And I guess you think 'dat Led Zeppelin is better'n Slipknot."

"They ams!"

He laughed openly now. "No way, dude! Slipknot is so Gad damn amazing that they give me a fuckin' hard an, okay?"

Toki gave him a little, shy half-smile. "Well that ams nice to know."

"It's true! Seriously, their shit makes me horny."

"That ams hot." he voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Pickles grinned and playfully punched him once more. "Yeah, you like 'dat, don't you, beautiful?"

"Don't calls me that!" he warned, leaning away from the drummer.

"Why nat?"

"Because it ams a lie and you knows it."

"Oh, shut up, beautiful." the drummer said quietly as Toki crawled over to him. Gently the Norwegian laid his head onto the other man's stomach and let out a sigh of content. Pickles ran a hand thru Toki's hair and closed his eyes. "You're _my _beautiful, you know that? Mine, mine, mine..."

"Pickle, you wants to know a secret?" the guitarist asked in a timid whisper.

"Hmm?"

"Slipknotdon't makes me horny, Emperordoes."

He laughed and ran his fingers along Toki's cheek lightly. "Yeah? What do they sound like? Lots of screaming and a lotta heavy guitar stuff?"

"Fucks yeah, they ams the best Norwegian black metal band _ever."_ Toki paused looked up at Pickles. "You wants to sing to me some more?"

"Sure. Whadda want me to-"

"Or tells me about that place again?"

He arched a pierced brow and inquired, " 'Bout what place, dude?"

Toki's eyes were full of blue fire as he said eagerly, "Abouts Eden."

"Well...sure, I guess." Pickles sat up and kissed the top of the guitarist's head. "What do you want to hear about it?"

"About the fruit on the trees."

"S'so good that it's like-"

"Nothings I've ever tasted, right?"

He smiled and nodded. "Right, and-"

"And how sweet ams it?"

"So sweet that you can't even imagine." Pickles licked his lips and added, "I can taste it right now—like candy and Pepsi."

Toki laughed and repeated, "Candy and Pepsi?"

"Sure, and the rivers there ain't made of water, they're made of pure, red wine."

The Norwegian's eyes lit up at this. "Wine? What flavors?"

"Every flavor."

"Oh, Gods." Toki let Pickles mold his lips to his before asking, "And we ams going to go, right?"

"Sure we are."

"Whats about now?"

He shook his head and began twisting some more of the guitarist's hair between his fingers. "Nah, we can't leave Nathan."

"Yes we coulds! Comes on, let's just gos right now, just you and me! We coulds go and get drunk and...and..."

"Toki," Pickles said seriously. "we can't leave Nathan."

The guitarist looked glumly down to the floor and sighed in defeat. "I knew you woulds say that."

Pickles opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Nathan had entered the room holding a candle and two cans of food. He placed the lit candle down on the couch before tossing Toki some food. "Hey, dildos, what's up?"

"We were just talkin'." Pickles said, watching with envy as Toki ate his food. He tried to ignore the aching, insistent hunger in his stomach as he talked to Nathan. "About music and stuff, y'know. Hey, d'you think you could help us settle somethin'?"

He shrugged, clearly unconcerned with whatever it was Pickles was talking about. "Sure, what is it?"

"Who's better—Nirvanaor Guns N' Roses?"

Nathan frowned in thought and finally answered, "You mean like who's a better singer, Kurt Cobain or-"

"Nah, just a better band, dude."

Toki looked up from his can of food and blurted, "Nirvana ams totally better, everyone knows that!"

"Shut it, dude!" Pickles said jokingly, leaning heavily against the guitarist. "You didn't even know who Quiet Riotwas, so you ain't gat no place to say who's better than who."

"Nirvana,hands down." Nathan said without a thought. The drummer's mouth fell open and he immediately shook his head.

"Nu-uh! Guns N' Roses totally-"

"Hey, Pickles, could I talk to you outside?"

He followed Nathan out onto the front steps of the Mordhaus and sat down. "Okay, so what's up?"

"You..." the singer tried not to meet Pickles' gaze as he said, "...and him."

The drummer paled. "Us _what?"_

"Together. I've-" he cursed under his breath and managed to say with much difficulty, "-I've seen you two together. You guys are..."

"I thought you knew—thought you could tell." he said simply, shrugging off Nathan's hesitation. "S'no big deal, though, right? I mean, it don't change nothin', does it?"

"_Change?" _he scoffed. "You two are together and you want to know if this _changes _anything?"

Pickles slowly rose to his feet, preparing to defend himself. "Yeah, I do." he said, narrowing his eyes at the singer. "So what?"

"It's you two now, don't you get it?" Nathan exclaimed, letting out a roar of frustration. "If you two are together, then it's just you and Toki and...where do I fit into your little _relationship? _How is there even a fucking place for me here anymore?"

"There'll always be a pl-"

"Don't waste your time and lie, you piece of shit! I've seen you two! You always fucking with the kid..." he swallowed and said almost challengingly, "It's disgusting, how you take advantage of him when he's like this."

Pickles felt his face grow red with rage as he repeated coldly, "Take advantage? Is 'dat what you think this is?"

"What else could it be? You've never shown interest in him or anyone that wasn't yourself before this crap!" Nathan spat, glaring at the drummer. He was breathing hard, clearly wanting so badly to just kick the shit out of the other man. He didn't, even though he planned to; first he needed answers to his questions.

Obviously Pickles could sense this approaching danger, because in a moment he was speaking quickly, almost in a panicked way. Nathan was nearly twice his size, taller than him, and even though they were both starving, exhausted, and weak, the singer could still beat him. "I...that ain't it at all!" he said, trying to calm himself.

Nathan just grew angrier at this explanation and insisted, "Okay, great, so you two screw around and now what? What about _me?"_

"This ain't about _you!"_

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, obviously not..."

Pickles abandoned all feelings of fear and took a step nearer the other man, so that he was less than an inch away from his face. "What the fuck is it about, then? What do you mean it ain't about you? Why the hell do you care so much?"

"I care that I don't belong here anymore!" he let out a hopeless sigh and added, "If it's just you two together like that, then..."

"You're always gonna belong here with us." Pickles said, trying to assure Nathan. "I swear, we'd never-"

"...and you had to wake up and ruin everything."

Now the drummer's feelings of guilt and sympathy towards Nathan melted away. He gave him a bitter, hateful little smirk and asked, "Excuse me? You want me to be dead?"

"I want you to keep your fucking stupid ass out of my life!"

"You want—fine! You know what, 'dat's just fine with me! Fuck you!"

Nathan sneered down at him. "Yeah, and you know what else? I was gonna fuck Toki. I was, but you had to wake up and...he was _almost _mine, we were so close to fucking." he chuckled and said in an undertone, "Guess that means he doesn't love you that much after all, huh? Guess that just makes you a last resort."

Pickles was about to kill him—to rip his God damn throat out—but just then the door to the Mordhaus opened and Toki came out, looking around warily. "I heard screamings." he said, glancing from one fuming man to the other. "Ams everything okays?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Nathan responded coolly. "Now get back in the-"

"You little bitch!" Pickles howled, pushing the singer away from Toki. "You think you're just gonna say something like that and just _talk _to him, like it's okay?"

Nathan just laughed and pushed him right back, had him flat against the door. "What the fuck are you going to do about it?"

"You're such a piece of shit, you know 'dat?"

"A piece of shit that almost fucked your little boyfrie-" the singer was cut off as Pickles spit on him; Nathan didn't falter. He just wiped off the spit and gave Toki a smile. "I hope you two are _really _happy together. I hope that all of this was worth it." and he turned and walked down the steps, that same smile still on his pale face. He only turned back to say to Pickles, "So now you two can be happy, right? You can go steal Toki and find your stupid little Eden, or whatever it is I heard you two talking about."

The Norwegian's face turned ashen. "You heards all that?"

"Yeah, and thanks, by the way. Never knew that I mean that little to you; hell, I guess I was just stupid." and Nathan proceeded to walk down the driveway. Pickles watched him go, a look of pure fear in his green eyes.

"Wait!" he called, stepping away from the door. "Don't go! Don't..." but Nathan didn't stop. The drummer looked down and shook his head. He couldn't believe this. It was unreal. They needed to be together, because if they weren't, then... "Come back, you fucking prick!" he howled so loudly that his face turned red. "Come back, you stupid, scared little bitch!"

Still, Nathan didn't stop. Pickles felt utterly hopeless as he cried into the red sky, "Fine, go then! You wanna leave? Fuck you, we don't need you! We don't need your stupid ass ruinin' everything!" the singer didn't stop. Pickles watched as he became a small dot on the horizon. Hopelessly he yelled after him, "YOU WANNA LEAVE? FINE! GO TO HELL, YOU IDIOT! I HOPE YOU DIE, I HOPE YOU GET MURDERED JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! FUCK YOU!"

"P-Pickle..." The drummer turned, his face red and his chest rising and falling rapidly, to face Toki. The guitarist looked terrified, so small and weak as he whispered fearfully, "...Pickle..."

"What?" he was still angry, he still wanted to rip someone apart. As Toki reached forward and brushed some of his red hair out of his face, he backed away and spat, "Don't touch me, just get away!"

"Buts I-"

"Fuck aff already, okay? What the hell do you want me to do? You wanna kiss or somethin'?"

He shook his head quickly and took a few cautious steps away from Pickles. "N-Nos."

"Then what?"

"I...I wants..." his voice trailed off as his eyes filled with tears. Just before he could really begin crying, Toki turned and ran back into the house. Pickles watched him then glanced back over to where Nathan had been walking. He was gone now. There was nothing ahead of them other than a blood-red horizon. Suddenly, as if by magic, his feelings of hatred and anger melted away from him and he was left standing on the steps feeling exhausted and very guilty.

Slowly he worked up the courage to go back into the house and find Toki, who was laying on the couch hugging a pillow and crying. He said nothing, only went over to him and sat down next to the couch; delicately he ran a hand along Toki's cheek, relishing the feeling of that warm, tear-soaked skin beneath his fingers. At least he still had someone. Still, he said nothing. He waited until the guitarist looked over to him with his pale eyes so bright and full of tears, and asked meekly, "He ams not coming back, is he?"

"No, I don't think he is."

"So it ams just us?"

"Yep."

He sniffled and wiped at his eyes. "So he ams going to die, right? The other people out there are going to k-kills him..." he began crying again, and Pickles shook his head and wrapped an arm around him, kissed the top of his head.

"Ssh. S'alright, it's gonna be—other people? Toki, how do you know there might be other people in the world?"

"I-I'm not stupids." he said, weeping. "I heard the gunshots ands stuff. I know that someone else ams out there, someone bad, and—oh God, Pickle, who ams going to keeps us safe? Are we going to die?"

"No, you're nat."

Toki gave him a look of pure, pitiful confusion and asked gravely, "What ams you mean _I'm _not going to die? What abouts you?"

"It never was about me, dude," Pickles said, gently putting some of the guitarist's hair away from his face. "and if it gets really bad, then I guess you'll just have to run again and pray that I'm behind you, because I'm not gonna sit back and watch someone hurt you."

"Buts-"

"I'll die for you."

Toki paled at the thought of this and shook his head. "N-Nos, you can't do that! We haves to...we cans..."

"Look, there's gonna come a time when..." Pickles let out a troubled sigh and finally managed to admit, "Nathan's gone, but I'm still here, and I'll give you everything I can—_everything—_to keep you safe, do you understand?"

He nodded. "I loves you."

"And I love you, so there ain't nothing to worry about, is there?"

He managed to let a little, hopeful smile come across his face as he agreed, "Nos, nothing at alls to worry about."

"Okay, good. Go to sleep now, okay?" Pickles kissed Toki's forehead, threw a blanket over him, and lit a candle before exiting the room and wandering up to Ofdensen's old office. He ventured over to the old, cracked window that Nathan had always looked out of and sighed tiredly. There was no moon hanging low in the sky, not even a wink from a single star. The bloody heavens were now cloudless and meaningless without their celestial bodies or the once bright, smiling moon. Under the crimson glow of the sky, Pickles could also clearly make out the yard of the Mordhaus; the trees were bare and withered, the grass was brown.

Everything was dead.


	6. Finding Eden

_Can you give me sanctuary  
__I must find a place to hide  
__A place for me to hide_

_Can you find me a soft asylum  
__I can't make it anymore  
__The Man is at the door_

_~~The Soft Parade~~_

_Come here  
__I love you.  
__Peace on earth  
__Will you die for me_

_~~Always A Playground Instructor~~  
__~~Poet: Jim Morrison~~Book: The American Night~~_

_**CHAPTER 6: FINDING EDEN**_

The next morning Pickles laid there for a long while just watching Toki sleep. He watched as the Norwegian breathed, watched as he smiled sweetly in his slumber, clearly comforted by some good dream. He listened to that steady sound of him breathing, watched his hair flutter away from his face with each precious breath he took. He was pale, his eyes ringed by tired circles of black, and skinny, pitiful when compared to his old self. Pickles finally gave in and woke the guitarist up.

"Hey, beautiful, time to get up."

"Huh?" he blinked and looked around the room, a confused look on his face. "Where ams Nathan?"

He didn't answer this question. Instead he handed Toki three whole cans of food and encouraged, "Eat up."

Toki took the cans and a thoughtful frown came across his weary face. "Buts we can't eats all of it, we needs to saves it, don't we? For tomorrow and-"

"S'fine, I promise." Pickles said, opening himself up a can. He began eating and glanced out of a nearby broken window. Like before there was nothing in the early morning sky, no traces of the sun or any clouds. The heavens were just a blank, bloody canvas, streaked with tints of a rotting, sick black, as if it were dissolving into some kind of fathomless vortex. He swallowed his food and thought aloud, "I don't think that tomorrow will be a problem."

"What ams you mean?"

He snapped back into reality and gave the guitarist a warm smile, an everything's-fine-now smile. "Nothin', I was just...hey, you know what we should do after breakfast?"

"What?" he was beginning to finish off his second can of food already.

"In Ofdensen's office there's a bottle of brandy. You wanna go finish it aff?"

He gave Pickles a confused look. "But we can't just gos and eat and drink everything! Whats about tomorrow and the next day? We'll die!"

"Yeah," he agreed. "I guess we will. Let's just go, okay? Trust me, it'll be okay."

"You keeps saying that, but I don't think you means it." Toki said doubtfully. "Ams everything really okay?"

"Yeah," he lied. "everything's perfectly fine."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

"Pickle, what ams you looking for?" Toki questioned, watching the drummer attempt to break the lock off of a cabinet. Pickles didn't turn his green eyes away from the lock, only tugged at it some more and let out a frustrated grunt. "We haves the booze, so lets just gos. Why can't we-"

"Finally!" he said, letting out a relieved sigh. Pickles had managed to pry off the lock; he proceeded to open the cabinet and pull out all the guns and bullets that were stored in there. The Norwegian watched him with wide eyes.

"What ams you doing?"

"Hold this." he said, passing the guitarist a gun.

Toki took it but immediately put it down on Ofdensen's desk. "Ams we going to shoot some more rats todays or somethings?"

"In a way." he said vaguely, filling his pockets with bullets. _We'll shoot some rats alright, lots of Gad damn rats..._

The guitarist went over and laid his hand on the drummer's shoulder. "Pickle, you ams acting weird—what ams wrong exactly? We don't need all of those guns, dos we? 'Cause I'm not going to shoots anyone ever, not after I hads to kill that Klokateer. Nots after-"

"Toki, please!" he said, slamming the cabinet shut. The Norwegian instantly grew silent and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, Pickle. I-"

"Listen to me," the drummer interrupted, rising to his feet and picking up the gun from the desk. "if I give you a gun, that means that you have to shoot someone, okay? That means that it's either them or _you, _don't you get 'dat? I don't want you to get hurt, so look-" he forced the gun into Toki's hands and insisted, "-you're gonna take that, and if something happens, you just pull the trigger."

Toki opened his mouth, tried to speak, but just ended up shaking his head. He managed to whisper timidly, "But I don't wants to hurt anyone, Pickle."

"What if they're tryin' to hurt you?"

"You can't ask me to dos that, not again."

"I'm nat askin' you to kill anyone, just to defend yourself." Pickles explained calmly. He glanced over at the bottle of brandy that was on Ofdensen's desk and grinned. "You want a drink? Gad, how long has it been since we've had any alcohol?"

"Too longs." he answered, sounding oddly bright and happy. As Pickles took the bottle and turned to leave the room, Toki hesitated and glanced down at the gun that he held in his cut and filthy hands. A frown came across his face as he laid it on Ofdensen's desk and exited the room.

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

"Hey, you 'member the time 'dat we were playin' that concert in fuckin' Australia?" Pickles asked, taking a deep drink from the bottle of booze.

"Whats time?" Toki inquired.

"After the show we all gat drunk an' I went up t'you and-" he turned red as he remembered, "-I just started singing to you real bad and shit, and you passed out and I caught you..."

Toki laughed and drank what was offered to him. "Ja, _that _I remembers. I also remembers how you dropped me and fell on the floors right next to mes and-"

"And we both fell asleep like 'dat." he completed with a sicker. "The next morning when we all had hangovers, we blamed it on each other. You said I made you drink and-"

"And you saids that I mades _you _drink." he laid back on the roof and let out a peaceful sigh.

After claiming the bottle of booze they'd managed to climb the half-crumbled stairs up to the roof of the Mordhaus, and now they were both looking down at the yard, laughing and joking as if the world wasn't dying around them. It was a bittersweet moment, Pickles realized, because as they both sat there loving each other and drinking, Nathan was probably dead or being hunted by those people out in the forest. He swallowed down some more of the warm, burning alcohol and looked down at the broad expanse of leafless trees. What was that? Could he see someone or something _moving _down in the trees?

"Hey, how 'bout we just stay up here for today?"

"And we can sleeps on the roof too?"

"Sure, maybe we'll..." his voice trailed off as he thought, _Maybe we'll be safer._ And so together they finished off the brandy and threw the bottle down into the yard below, watching as it shattered into a million pieces of glass. Pickles then hugged Toki to him and kissed him everywhere he could, desperately touching and whispering to him. The Norwegian began to worry.

"Pickle, what ams wrong with you today? You act like you're never going to sees me aga—you ams going away, aren't you? Just like Nathans and..." his eyes became bright with tears as he asked, "You ams leaving me?"

"No I'm nat. I'd never leave you."

"You promise?"

"Duh." he ran a hand along the small of the guitarist's back and closed his eyes, remembering that night they'd slept together. "I'd never leave you, not ever."

There was a moment of silence before Toki inquired, "Pickle?"

"Yeah?"

"Why ams there no clouds or sun? Did they all die, too?"

"No...maybe."

Toki looked disappointed as he mumbled, "Oh, that ams sad. The moon must be lonely, huh?"

Pickles shook his head. "Nah, he's gone too. So are the stars. They all went somewhere together."

"When will they bes back?"

"I...I don't know."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

The day ended with more pleads of, "Tell me abouts Eden again, okay?" and more stories of candy-flavored fruit that grew on trees of gold and silver and rivers that flowed with wine as richly red as blood. When it was over Toki was laying asleep in Pickles' arms, being cradled by the drummer, and dreaming peaceful, sweet dreams of that imaginary Garden of Eden. That night the guitarist dreamed of the moon and the sun talking to each other, the stars and the clouds making love. For once everything seemed to have reached an equilibrium, some kind of unattainable serenity. The guitarist dreamed this until there was a loud, echoing noise; he awoke dazed and confused, looking around and scratching his head.

Pickles was awoken by the noise too, and in a moment he had jumped to his feet and was looking around wildly. There was several more loud banging noises and the sound of shattering glass. Toki frowned. "What ams that?"

"Shut up!" Pickles hissed, kneeling down next to him. He reached around and bit his lower lip, clearly concentrating hard on something, and found his gun. "I think someone's downstairs in the house."

"What? Ams you serious? What ams we going to do?"

"You're gonna stay up here until I come back."

Toki gasped. "What do you means_ comes back?_ You're staying here with me, right?"

"Dude, I bet it's nothing."

He stared into the drummer's eyes, saw the fear and the hopelessness that was reflecting back at him, and said, "No, it ams something and you knows it, and I'm not going to let you go down there by yourself."

Pickles rolled his eyes. "Fine, you wanna come with me?"

"Either you go with me or you don't gos at all."

"Shit..." he let out a frustrated sigh and took a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing, "Okay, look, you can come, but the second I say run, you do it, understand?"

Toki nodded. "Ja, of course."

Together they made their way downstairs and watched as two men tore apart the living room. "What ams they do-"

"Shut up!" Pickles whispered in desperation. "Just be quiet!" Didn't Toki see it? Didn't he see the two guns that the men were carrying with them, aiming at every shadow and object that they came in contact with? He swallowed. Maybe if he could kill one then he could get to the other and-

"What do they wants?"

"I don't know!"

"Pickle, shuts up! You ams yelling!"

"No I'm—get back up the stairs." he began slowly backing up, pushing to Toki with him. "Maybe if we just go back up the the roof they won't-

"Stop." He shut his eyes tightly and his heart skipped a fair number of beats as one of the men ordered him again, "Stop, don't move."

This wasn't right, it wasn't how it was supposed to happen. He was supposed to kill the two men and be okay, he was supposed to protect the Norwegian, save him from a horrible death, but this was going all wrong. Pickles forced his eyes open and watched as one of the men raised his gun and aimed it at him. "Crap." was all he could think to say. Thoughtlessly he let his own weapon fall from his shaking hands. Toki saw this and let out a whimper of fear.

"Pickle, you drops-"

"Come down here." the man ordered harshly.

When Toki didn't make a move, Pickles took his hand and slowly guided him down the rest of the stairs. "Just do what he says, okay beautiful?"

"I told you nots to calls me th-"

"Shut up and come _here." _he insisted, pointing a few feet in front of him. Pickles walked over to him, stood in front of the guitarist, trying as best he could to shield him from what was undoubtedly about to come.

"Look, dude, what do you want? We'll make sure you get it, just don't go aimin' guns at us." he said, trying to fake calmness. The man with the gun didn't buy it. Instead he just called over his partner and they both took one look at Toki and Pickles and laughed.

"I thought we shot you," one of them said, pressing his gun to Pickles' cheek. "I thought we shot you right in the head."

"In the stomach." he said, trying to conceal his growing anger. "While my back was turned."

He elbowed his partner and chuckled. "Yeah, I remember that—it was you and that blond one. I shot him in the back, too. Wasn't he Swedish?"

"_Yes." _he was growling now, biting his tongue to keep from spitting out insults.

One of the men said, "Wasn't he the one who could never speak English?"

And his companion grinned and asked, "He's not around, is he?"

"No," Pickles hissed, glaring down at the floor. "he's gone."

"Where to?"

"Away."

"So he stayed dead, didn't he?"

"You...you killed Skwisgaar?" Toki asked, turning his pale gaze onto the stranger. "You were the one who shots him?"

He sneered down at Toki and aimed the gun at him, let his finger caress the trigger delicately. Pickles tried to push the Norwegian away, but the other intruder held him back. "I sure did," the man hissed, smiling at Toki's hatred and sorrow. "Blew his God damn useless brains right out of his skull."

"More like his guts, it seemed." the other man remembered as he struggled to retain Pickles.

"Like _this." _the other said, pressing the gun to Toki's stomach. "And you just pull the trigger and-"

"Leave him alone!" Pickles cried, trying so hard to brake free from the one who was restraining him. "Just leave us alone! What the fuck did we do to you? Why'd you have to burn down our house, fuckin' take away _everything?" _he felt a sort of useless anger rising in him, quite similar to the kind of bitterness a child might hold towards a parent for being unfairly punished by them. He knew it wouldn't do any good to let this feeling grow, but he couldn't bring himself to hold it back, either. It was like a horrible trap, one that made him look weak and pitiful.

The one who was aiming the gun at Toki glared at him and his face twisted with rage as he spat, "What did you _do? _What did you and your stupid, money-hungry friends _do?"_

"My brother," said the other man, "gave up everything so he could afford to buy one _Dethklok _ticket—just one, and he threw away his whole damn college savings and dropped out of school..."

"That wasn't our fault!" Pickles said desperately. "We didn't handle the numbers and prices, only played the shows for the-"

"Money!" he said angrily. "That was always what it was about for you, wasn't it? You want to know what my brother got from your damn concert? He _died!"_

"It wasn't _us _who killed him!"

"You might as well have!" the one who was pointing the gun at Toki said vengefully. "You might as well just aimed a gun at his head and blown his fucking brains out." slowly he aimed his own gun up at the guitarist's skull and a small smile came across his face. At the desperately urgent look on Pickles' face he laughed coldly and asked, "What, you care about him? You don't want to see him die?"

"Don't hurt him, don't..."

"What would you do to save him?"

And of course it came down to this, the only question that mattered. Either Toki would die first or he would, there would be no other option. Silently he cursed himself for ever having dropped his gun, ever having come down from the roof and for not running away with his lover in the first place. How stupid he'd been. Maybe he did deserve to die, but did Toki deserve to _see _him die? Pickles took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could he felt the cold barrel of a gun being forced to the back of his own head.

"I...don't hurt him." he repeated mindlessly. The man who was standing by Toki let his smile grow.

"What would you do?"

Pickles knew that admitting it would make him seem weak; it would be like admitting that he was sorry and pitiful, that he deserved to die. Toki was his weakness, his only one in the world. The fact that he had let his weakness come this close to harm was an impossibly stupid thing in itself, but to acknowledge this grave error surely proved that he was nothing short of a spineless idiot. "Anything," he finally said in a faltering voice. "please, I'll do anything, just let him go."

"You want me to let him go, just like that?"

"Please, please, please..."

"Pickle, I-" clearly Toki could read the drummer's mind, because in a moment he was sobbing, crying desperately, "Don'ts says it, please don't! Don't do it, you don't haves to give up for me! Please, don't dos it!" _Don't be weak!_

"Toki, shut up." the drummer commanded harshly, glaring down at his tattered sneakers. "I know what I'm doing."

"Anything!" the man laughed, keeping the gun pressed to the back of Toki's skull. "Hear that? He'll do _anything! _What if I shoot him right here, what if I kill him?"

"I don't wants to die..." he whispered, his eyes growing wide as he realized the reality of the situation. Pickles barley felt the warm tears that were beginning to run down his face as he tried to comfort the Norwegian.

"You're not gonna die, you're not. Remember what I said, that I would keep you safe no matter what." he watched as the man who was holding Toki raised his gun, prepared to bring it down.

Without hesitation, Pickles managed to break free from the man who was holding him; he went over and wrapped his arms around Toki, accepted the hurt from the butt of the gun. He tried to block it with his arm, but it was a useless effort—the man just brought the gun down a second time and bones snapped like Popsicle sticks, making the drummer let out a startling yell of agony and cradle his broken arm to his chest. "Fuck..." he whispered, biting his tongue to try and distract himself from the horrible pain. He was panting now, struggling to hold back tears as Toki kissed him.

"Ams you okay?"

"Uh-huh." he hissed thru clenched teeth. "Fine."

"Ams you broke?"

"N-No, I'm...are you okay?"

"Ja, of course I ams." Toki glared up at the man with the gun and added in an undertone, "I'm going to kills him; _both _of them. I want to fucking tear them apart..."

"T-Toki," Pickles whispered, touching the guitarist's cheek. Without warning he fell to his knees and Toki followed, holding onto him tightly. "I love you, you know 'dat, right?"

"Of course I do, but what-"

It was about to happen, this was it. In a few moments he would be nothing but a lifeless corpse, no different than the hundreds of dead Klokateers that littered the yard outside. He'd be laying there bleeding and cold in Toki's arms, never have to see the gun being put to his love's head...last thoughts. They were like they had been before, on the night that the Mordhaus was first attacked—his head was full of memories of Toki. All he could think of—the only world he could breathe, the only scent he smelled—was him. Toki naked, covered in sweat and completely flushed, collapsing onto the seat of that old, rusted car...Toki laughing as he won some stupid prize at the carnival that the band had always gone to every year...

"_Look, Pickle, I gots this bear!" he announced proudly, presenting the drummer with the stuffed animal. _

Toki pale and shivering as they took him away from his home in Norway after his father had died...

"_I guess I miss hims. No matter how bad he was to mes I'll always miss hims."_

And Toki, that blue-eyed, brown-haired fantasy, the only person in the world who Pickles had cared about, trying to get over his crushing stage-fright by practicing maddeningly on his guitar backstage before his first concert...

"_Skwisgaar has his hands insured for, likes, six-million dollars, doesn't he?" the Norwegian asked, glaring resentfully down at his boots. "Why can't I haves _my _hands insured for that much? Or even half that much...fucks that, he ams so stupid. I'm better anyways, right Pickle? Right?"_

"T-Toki, y'gatta..." he was crying again, completely breaking down and weeping as he watched a man walk up behind the guitarist and raise his gun. "I love you."

"I...I..." clearly he was struggling to take this all in. "Ams this what it's like to die?"

"What?"

"I sees stuff—you. All I can thinks about is-"

"Yeah, I guess it is." Dimly Pickles felt something cruel and cool being placed at the back of his head—a gun. He took a deep, shuttering breath, and nodded, feeling oddly numb. He almost accepted this.

"It ams not so bad." a pause then, "What ams you thinking about?"

"You, nothing but you." And he began silently counting down the precious seconds of what remained of his life. He didn't feel wholly there, though; it was as if he was already crossing over into that shadow-land, that place beyond eternity. Suddenly another memory came to his mind, one in which he was just a six-year-old kid talking to his half-drunk father. They were both wearing black suits—it was after his grandfather's funeral.

"_So daddy, if grandpa went to Heaven, then does that mean that he's up in the sky?"_

"_No, Heaven isn't in the sky, you stupid boy."_

"_Then where is it?"_

"_It's like an imaginary place, one that God has to show you and invite you into."_

Pickles ran a hand thru Toki's hair and smiled. "Gad, I love you. Thanks for loving me back..."

"Pickle, what ams happening? I-" his voice broke as he said painfully, "-I don't wants to die."

"You're not," he said, feeling the insistent, pounding pain radiate from his broken arm thru his entire shaking body. "We're not dying."

_Five._

"D'you remember Eden?"

"Whats?" Toki met his gaze and sniffled.

"There's fruit," the drummer explained, "that's sweet as candy—better, actually."

_Four._

"And they grow on the gold and silver trees, rights Pickle?"

"You gat it."

"And there ams no pain or hurt, right?"

He choked back a sob and answered wretchedly, "No, and there's nothing to be scared of either, only good stuff...no fire or guns...no death."

_Three._

"You can sees anyone there, too, huh? Likes Skwisgaar and Nathans and-"

"Of course you can."

_Two._

"And we can be together, rights?"

"Always." Pickles kissed Toki's cheek and shut his eyes tightly.

"We ams going to go there, right?"

"Course we are."

"When?"

"Soon."

_ONE._

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

Soft kisses, a fleeting touch to a tear-stained cheek, and affectionate whispers of, "Pickle, you should wakes up now. You really should, because it ams so pretty..."

"Huh?" he shifted and let out a tired groan; no, he wasn't laying on the cold floor of the Mordhaus anymore. He was laying on something else, something cool and comforting, soft and nice. He opened his eyes and looked around. No, he wasn't anywhere near the Mordhaus anymore. It was night, a dark, blue midnight. He smiled softly, felt the jet-black grass underneath him. It was long and brushed his skin as it blew in the cool breeze. Above him a blanket of stars sparkled and glowed, appearing to be nothing less than billions—what seemed like more—winking little silver eyes above. The moon was full, so close and huge. It seemed to be almost within reach, a mere few miles away.

Neither he nor Toki bothered to ask where they were just then. It didn't matter and the answer that they might both come up with would spoil this fresh beauty, so they just sat, holding each other and staring up at the sky, their eyes aglow with a new found delight. "Pickle?" Toki finally asked, his voice a breathless whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still loves me?"

"Of course I do."

"Good, because I thinks we ams going to be here for a long time." he laid his head against the drummer's shoulder and smiled. "A _really _longs time."

"That's sure as hell fine with me."

"Pickle?"

"Hmm?" he hugged Toki close to him, cradled him in his arms like he'd done back at the Mordhaus under that red sky. It seemed like it was ages ago that they'd been trapped there in that Hell.

"What happened to everythings else? All the bad stuffs?"

"I think it went away."

"Oh." he hesitated before asking in a childish sort of wonder, "You mean like how the suns and the moon went away and took the clouds ands stars?"

"Somethin' like 'dat." Pickles answered. His arm no longer hurt anymore and he wasn't hungry, filth, tired, or scared anymore. He didn't know why, but he was just _okay. _It was the first time in a long time that he just felt _okay. _

The Norwegian nodded like he understood and continued with, "But they ams back again, so does that mean that everything else will come back?"

"No," he answered slowly and thoughtfully, "I don't think it will."

"But how come the stars and stuff cames back? Is the world okays again?"

Pickles grinned and kissed the top of the guitarist's head. "I don't think this is the world at all, Toki."

"Then what ams it?"

"It's just..." his green eyes glanced around, took in the endless meadow of long, gently swaying grass and hills that lay before them. They were sitting on the top of a hill, overlooking this impossibly gorgeous countryside. Something special caught his attention; there, glistening and glowing in the silver moonlight, were a few large trees. They gleamed the colors of pure silver and gold and he could see that there were many plump, ripe fruits that hung from their branches. He felt an odd sort of unreal feeling coursing thru him as he said, "It's just _us. _That's it, just us."

**: : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : : :: : :::: :: : :**

****A/N****

**Wow. That was horribly sad and depressing, wasn't it? Yeah, I cried when I thought of that ending, but it was just so perfect and right****that I had to use it. So yes, hate me if you must, but Pickles and Toki are definitely dead [so are Nathan and Murderface, and soon after they were killed the world finally finished rotting away], but at least they died together...that kind of makes it worse, doesn't it? Hmmm...**

**The next story I publish will be almost as sad, but also much happier. I know that sounds stupid, but this is pretty much as depressing as it gets...hopefully. ^_^ Thanks to all of those who have reviewed, because I love you and really appreciate it. For those of you that haven't reviewed yet, you should. I would really like it. Hope you enjoyed this story and thanks for reading. Until next time,**

**Peace, Love, & Eden  
****[R.I.P Pickles & Toki]**


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